How Did Jimmy Grabow Run 2:12:29 in His First Marathon?

Who the heck is Jimmy Grabow and how did he run so fast last week? If you looked at the results of last weekend’s U.S. Olympic trials marathon in Houston, his name was probably the first one that jumped out among the top finishers. The 27-year-old from Running Springs, Calif., (and isn’t that an appropriate hometown?) ran a 2:12:29 in his marathon debut, finishing 10th in a deep field of veteran and up-and-coming runners. Each of the nine guys who finished in front of Grabow is a known quantity, either a former Olympian or U.S. national team member for a road, track or cross country race. Grabow isn’t a newcomer on the elite running scene — he ran a solid 13:44 5,000m indoors back in 2007 while running for Cal State-Long Beach and a 1:03 half marathon last year — but he’s certainly not a guy anyone would have picked to run a 2:12 or finish in the top 10. But that’s just fine with Grabow, a happy-go-lucky workaholic who is working on his second master’s degree, works 40 hours a week (as a college adviser) and mostly trains alone.

Running Times: What kind of runner were you in high school?

Jimmy Grabow: In high school, I didn’t really realize I had any running talent. I used to play a lot of soccer, and some of my friends said, “Hey, let’s run cross country because it’s in the fall and soccer is in the winter,” and I said, “OK. That sounds good. It will be good conditioning for soccer.” I didn’t know what cross country was. I thought we went on hikes or something. My first pair of running shoes were actually more like a pair of hiking boots. I knew nothing about running. I grew up in Running Springs, which is about 25 minutes from Big Bear. It’s very outdoorsy, and I thought running was like hiking and we were going to go backpacking and stuff like that. At my first race, I ran 28:30 for 3 miles and came in dead last at an invitational. I had the worst pain ever. I ended my freshmen cross country season at about 23:30. But then I wound up getting hurt and couldn’t play soccer, so I just ran track in the spring. The coach at the time was very motivational. I just kept running because it was a good time and a good way to hang out with my friends. My fastest 3-mile time in high school was 15:59 at Mt. SAC, and my fastest 2-mile in track was a 9:40. That pretty much sums up my high school career. I really wasn’t that good in high school.

RT: You obviously developed a bit in college, but it took some time to get there, right?

JG: I was kind of a mediocre student in high school — I had a 3.0 GPA — so I went to San Bernardino Valley Community College. The coach there was Wes Ashford, who had been a steeplechaser at BYU back in the day. He seemed to see something in me and believed in me, and that’s when I started to get confidence as a runner. Even though I was only a 14:50 guy coming out of my sophomore year of community college, I was recruited to go to Long Beach State. It’s a Division I school, but not a big powerhouse. At Long Beach State, I was coached under Matt Roe, who now coaches at Butler. Things just started clicking. I wound up running 13:44 indoors and a 29:30 for a 10K outdoors. I didn’t really like the longer distances, so I never really focused on the 10K. But that was my college career, ending with a big high at indoors in 2007.

RT: So what happened right after college? It took a while for you to run fast times after you graduated.

JG: My goal was to get down to the low 13:30s in the 5,000m, but I got a little banged up after college. I put in a lot of miles with a lot of intensity and didn’t have a whole lot of wisdom when it came to training. I didn’t believe in rest days. After college, I was hurt on and off. It was kind of a difficult time. I competed in a couple of road races. I ran meets at Mt. SAC and Stanford, but nothing was really clicking off well. My times were mediocre — 13:50s and 29:00 or so.

RT: What helped get you to where you are now?

JG: Things got better because I have a really good support network down here. We started a post-collegiate group mostly made up of old Big West retirees. We kind of got together and decided we had an excuse to run together. And now that’s really blooming as the adidas Legacy Run Racing group. We have a good group of guys, including Charlie Serrano (49th at the trials marathon in 2:19:48) and Nick Mosey (17th at the recent Bupa cross country race in Ireland). We’ve been running together for a few years and having that support is really helpful. I work full-time, so having a great coach and a great system that works with me and my schedule has really made it possible for me to run 28:34 for a 10K, 1:03 for the half marathon and a good marathon debut. Getting a group together to go for a long run, just to have that social environment, is very helpful. We do our best with what we have, and it’s starting to pay off.

RT: Who’s coaching you?

JG: Our coach is Jim Roldan, he’s an ex-Big West guy who went to UC-Irvine. He’s an engineer and owns a timing company and really knows his stuff. We all work full-time, so we have to be efficient with our workouts. Time is important to all of us. But that’s what makes it fun. We have a good rhythm. Things are going very good for us now. Adidas has come on and helped us out, and our local running shop, Legacy Running, has been great to us. They’re opening a new store, so things are going well for them, too. And that’s what we’re all about. We’re looking for people who are passionate about their running, even if they’re not the fastest guys out there. If they have the drive to take their own personal game to the next level, that’s the kind of runner we want. We know people have outside commitments — either work or family or school — but we work with that and can get that person to the next level.

RT: What is Roldan like as a coach?

JG: He’s a Lydiard guy, but the nice thing is that he takes bits and pieces and helps you make it work. I told him what worked for me in college, and he’s modified a plan for me based on that. I haven’t had a big shock to what I did in college, but he’s slowly integrated some new stuff into my program. I’ve done longer tempos, but not that hard. And we’ve done a lot of the same workouts, but he’s made it seem easier week after week. We would do 10-mile tempos at 5:10 pace and those start to feel a lot easier after the fourth week or so. I have a tendency to over-train and go really hard from the gun. He’s been really good at pulling the harness back and easing into things, being more relaxed and utilizing good recovery. He’s definitely more of a Lydiard guy, but he’s more flexible than a lot of coaches.

RT: How often do you guys train together?

JG: We’ll get a group of guys together for weekend long runs. Charlie Serrano lives an hour away, so that takes some planning. Sometimes Nick Arciniaga will come home from Flagstaff and we’ll run together. Most of my work is done on my own or with my coach on his bike.

RT: How did you break through with a 1:03:37 half marathon last year?

JG: Last year, I had wanted to got to Houston to run the half marathon, but I was coming off of an injury. I wanted to see where my fitness was, but I didn’t want to spend the money and get embarrassed in Houston. So instead I jumped in a local half marathon and made it a fitness test. I went off of feel and it turned out pretty well. And that’s when I started getting pretty excited about running in a full marathon. But really, I was pretty scared about running a marathon and really never thought I would until last year. I didn’t know too much about the marathon at all. I had a lot of people helping me out with training, and long runs and how to deal with aid stations … all that stuff. It’s been a very rewarding process because of the support.RT: OK, talk about your training. Obviously, you’ve been running a lot of miles in the last couple of years.

JG: Basically, I’ve always been a mileage whore, even running 100 miles a week in college. I still do a lot of mileage, but I’ve also upped the intensity on my mileage. I usually get up at 5:30, go for a 15-miler and then go to my gym and do my core work and so forth. I have some recovery chocolate milk and breakfast and go off to work. I take an hour nap during lunch on most days and then go back to work. After work, I go for a 5-mile easy jog and do some stretching and icing. Then on Saturdays, I do a long run, and Sunday I kind of do something easy and relaxed.

RT: What did your marathon build-up look like?

JG: When I was gearing up for the marathon, there was really no need to do any intervals. Most of my training was just tempo and long runs. I did a couple of 28-mile runs during my build-up, and those were long. I’ve always run my mileage at a pretty quick pace, usually at sub-6:00 pace. I’ve really worked on trying to get my proper recovery right and really take care of my body. I get more sleep, eat a better diet, take more vitamins, do more core work. Stuff like that.

RT: What kind of mileage did you run over the last few months?

JG: We did a lot of weeks at 120-130 or so. This past fall I ran a couple of races as workouts, but nothing spectacular. Those were just to break off the rust and break off the monotony of training. We had a down week every four weeks or so, dropping it back down to 80, just to make sure I was getting enough recovery and to make sure I wasn’t running myself to death. We would do our long run and a tempo run as workouts every week.

RT: Did you do any tune-up races at all?

JG: I ran the USATF club cross country nationals in early December in Seattle. I was pretty happy with it because I haven’t done any of the things I would do for a 10K and I think I came in about 20th. [Grabow was 24th in 30:35.] It was a good trip to go up with our teammates and race. Otherwise, I didn’t do any turkey trots. I mostly just trained.

RT: What was your outlook before the trials?

JG: We all knew that the trials would be my race, but I was pretty nervous about running a marathon. If you mess up in a 10K and go out too hard, you’ve got maybe 2 more miles of pain. But if you mess up in a marathon, you’ve got 13 more miles of pain. Since I was in high school, everybody who knew me as a runner said I was more geared toward the marathon. I have an efficient stride. I’m small. I’ve got short, half-Japanese legs. And hey, Japanese are great marathoners, so I had to embrace that. It’s just taken me to this point to believe in that and embrace that.

RT: Did you have a time goal in mind, something you thought was realistic but perhaps on the conservative side?JG: Going into the race, I was going to be happy with anything under 2:15. I told myself ahead of time I wasn’t going to worry about splits. I didn’t wear a watch. I didn’t plan on running 5:05s or anything like that. My pure attitude was to go in and have a good respect for it, be patient in the beginning and over the last half or 10K try to pick it up. I just wanted to go in there, enjoy the experience and race and compete hard. You know, like they say, “Use your mind the first half, use your heart the second half.” And that’s what I did. At the 13-mile mark, I felt pretty good and just decided to roll with it.

RT: You obviously went out fast, right?

JG: I had so much fun out there. The race went out fast and hectic. We went out in 4:55 and I was like, “Wow, I’ve just got to be patience and bide my time.” I knew people were going to come back to me. I felt very much in control of what I was doing and realize it can be very unpredictable. I still respect the marathon — don’t get me wrong — but the race just unfolded for me very well. I was alone for a good portion of it, but at the end I was cranking out 5:05 miles and felt good. And then with about 8 miles to go, I knew I had a shot at finishing in the top 10.

RT: How did the race start off for you?

JG: The front group took off really fast, and I remember looking at Ian Burrell and asking him if our first split was right after we came through at 4:58. But then I was actually running alone from mile 3 to mile 5 and there was a small pack of guys in front of me — Andrew Carlson, Ryan Vail and Scott MacPherson and a couple of others guys — but I was happy to stay about 5-10 seconds behind them because I was used to do a lot of my training and long runs alone. I caught up with them after a bit and we were all going along well, clicking off miles at a good pace. With about 12 miles to go, we caught up with some stragglers who started to dictate the pace of our pace, and we started to slow down. At that point, it was time to be brave and make a move. I wanted to get a good time. We passed through the half at 1:06:30, and I knew I could have a chance run 2:12. I knew if we picked it up, we could run a good time. So I gradually picked it up.

RT: How did you feel when that happened?

JG: I felt very comfortable and knew I could sustain that pace. Everyone says the last 10K is rough, but at 13 miles I felt good. And that’s what I did. A couple of guys went with me and then I didn’t see their shadows after about 50 or 100 meters, so I knew it was time to buckle down. Knowing the pace went out fast, I knew I would see people in sight soon and that gave me a lot of motivation. I was thinking, “OK, let’s see how many people I can catch.”

RT: So you felt fine with that surge in the second half?

JG: I thought I was going pretty fast, but I guess I wasn’t because my splits were pretty even. On the last loop, I got really excited. I remember counting down the last miles and got to the final 10K point and, of course, I started to feel a little fatigued. My legs were still responding very well. My form was good, I didn’t feel my shoulders creeping up. My stride wasn’t going long. I was passing really good runners with clarity. That felt really good. I had a lot of support from the side, and every time I heard something I felt really good. It was probably the last 3 miles that I started feel kind of uncomfortable. I kept telling myself it was only 3 miles to go and I still had people to catch. In the last mile, I felt great. At mile 25, I was so excited. I saw the grove of trees and then I got to 400m left and my feet were killing me. I usually order my shoes a half size big, but that was probably the wrong thing to do. Whatever. I tried to shift gears, but my legs just didn’t respond.

RT: Did you have any problems at all, or did it all go smoothly?

JG: I had a couple of hiccups in the race, but nothing big. At the second fluid station, I kind of fell. I was focusing too much on my bottle and didn’t notice the leg of the table sitting out, and kind of nicked that and hit the ground. It wasn’t too bad. I got up and still had my bottle, so I was happy that I was OK. One of the things my coach said was, “be careful around the water stations,” and then I fell anyway. I never hit the wall and I didn’t’ blow up, so that was good. I don’t really have any horror stories, except for falling like an idiot at the water station.

RT: What was your reaction once you crossed the finish line in 2:12:29?

JG: It was definitely a surreal experience. I crossed the finish line and remember seeing 2:12-something on the clock. That’s when everything started to tighten up, so I had to keep walking. I didn’t know what my final place was. Nick Arciniaga and Brett Gotcher were in front of me in the finish area. I competed against those guys in college a bit and they were really happy for me. It was very surreal. Then I heard I finished in 10th place and that was pretty exciting, and someone told me I won $4,000, too. But I don’t care about the money. That will go away, but the time never will.

RT: So what’s next?

JG: I’ll recover a bit and then go to the U.S. 15K championships in Jacksonville in March. Then we’ll gear up for track in the 10,000m and try to lower my PR into the 28:20-28:10 range. From there, we’ll start to think long-term and what marathon we might consider in the fall or winter. That’s my event, and I’m excited to do another one. That’s what we’re looking at for the near future. Maybe I’ll run the track trials 10K, too. I ran 28:34 at Peyton Jordan, but I know I can run faster than that. Now it’s just a matter of actually doing it. Running is awesome because you get out what you put in, and I know I’ve been putting in a lot of work.

RT: Is the marathon going to be your main focus?

JG: Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing where I can go in the marathon. The next challenge is to replicate and do it better. I know it’s hard to be consistent in the marathon. If I go out and run another good time and beat some more people, I will be very happy. I know the marathon demands that respect. There are no guarantees, but I know I can train and race smarter.

RT: Did you have any problems with hydration?

JG: On the second loop, I took in some fluids, but I have done most of my 15-milers without fluids so I was fairly confident that I didn’t need a whole bunch. On the last lap, I told myself, “I need to race. Ryan Vail is gaining on me and I need to keep him away.” I was just going to gamble and roll with it, and that’s what happened, but it worked out just fine.

RT: Any other thoughts about the trials?

JG: In the pack I was running with, guys were calling off splits and being really encouraging to each other. That was so motivating. We were all out there racing, but we were working together, too. Everybody knows what it’s like to go through pain and hardship, so when guys are being supportive, even when we’re competing against each other, you know there is a great respect for each other. And that is awesome. To beat some of the better guys in the country, that’s a great feeling. We all want to be more guys and run faster, and hopefully that day will come. So now it’s time to go back and train and keep setting goals high and keep living the dream.

RT: Did you ever come close to giving up when things weren’t going well a few years ago?

JG: I went through a dark phase where I was off-and-on hurt from 2008-2009, and I was just bummed and frustrated. I thought I was done. But my mom always knows what to say to calm me down, and she said something like she didn’t think I was ready to be done and told me to think about things once I got healthy. And that gets back to my support network, whether that’s been someone to run with or someone to talk to. They kept me in running when I was down in the dumps. That happens in running. You have a bad day or a bad month and you start thinking, “I don’t know about this anymore.” You’ve gotta build yourself up, and if you have that support, it’s a lot easier to do that. Ultimately, this marathon is really a testament to everyone who has supported me in the past. I couldn’t have gotten there without their support.

RT: Is anyone else in your family athletic?

JG: My dad worked full-time in high school, but he’s a fire chief so he’s pretty fit and athletic. My sister was an international figure skater in pairs skating in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She was always competing since she was very young. Ice skating is like gymnastics, they train them from the time they’re infants. She’s always been athletic and talented. My mom is not athletic at all, but my parents have always been supportive. They never pushed us into sports, but they helped us do them if we liked them.

RT: You have a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degrees in college counseling and you’re working on another master’s degree in history, plus you work 40 hours a week. How do you fit it all in?

JG: I’m an academic advisor at Cal State Long Beach, my alma mater. It’s not a very back-breaking job, and I’m thankful for that. I advise students on classes with questions they might have. It’s full-time, 40 hours a week, but I have a very supportive boss who is one of my biggest fans, and I can get time off for races. I live about a block from work, so I can go home on my lunch break to take my naps. I try to do everything I can to still be in that running lifestyle while I’m working and enough to set money aside for savings. I love to be doing stuff and love to be busy, so it’s all working out very well. Working full-time and still going to school has really kept me on a system where I really have to be very efficient with my time. But I work better like that, under that kind of time commitment, because it helps me focus on what I am doing.

RT: What do you want to do with your education?

JG: I would like to teach at a college level at some point. I feel like college really develops people, and watching freshmen turn into seniors and start to realize what they think they might want to be in life is just awesome. It changed my life and that’s what I love about the college atmosphere.

RT: You seem like you have a good balance in life.

JG: Yeah, I like to laugh and have a good time, but I am absolutely serious about running. People know I take my training and racing very serious. I have fun when I run. I love getting up and running when no one else is up. I love getting up and watching the sun rise on a run. You have to have fun, and running that marathon was fun. Of course, I was nervous, but I had fun out there. I was even having fun throwing my water bottles. In fact, at one point, I almost hit a guy on a bike with a water bottle because I was trying to throw one of my bottles to my dad. I’m serious about my studies, serious about work, and serious about running, but who says you can’t have a good time as long as the stuff gets done?

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